Costa Rica generates almost 100% renewable energy in 2016

For 271 days of 2016, Costa Rica ran on 100% renewable electricity and, for the second consecutive year, surpassed 98% of generation with five clean sources in the year.

According to preliminary data from the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), between January 1 and December 31, Costa Rica produced 10,778.32 gigawatt hours (GWh), of which 98.21% came from renewable sources, a percentage similar to that of 2015, when Reached 98.99%.

The numbers stand out in two years with particular characteristics: 2015 was strongly affected by the El Niño phenomenon, while 2016 had low rainfall throughout the country during most of the year.

The optimization of the medium and large storage reservoirs of the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity has been fundamental to maintain these percentages.